Thorne v. University Of Detroit Mercy
- Rochon
- 1:23-cv-00990
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Thorne v. University of Detroit Mercy, Judge Rochon ordered settlement discussions and a joint status letter but did not decide the case’s merits.
Braulio Thorne and University of Detroit Mercy, including the proposed group of similarly situated people identified in the complaint.
What happened
Braulio Thorne sued University of Detroit Mercy on behalf of himself and other similarly situated people in Thorne v. University of Detroit Mercy.
Judge Rochon ordered the parties to meet for at least one hour within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint and to discuss settlement, including whether Thorne had standing to sue. If they did not settle, the parties had to address whether mediation or a settlement conference would be useful.
Within 45 days after service, the parties must submit a joint letter stating whether they settled. Judge Rochon ordered them to request mediation or a settlement conference, or ask for an initial status conference, if the case remained unresolved.
The detailed version
- Thorne v. University Of Detroit Mercy · No. 1:23-cv-00990
- Rochon
- Feb. 8, 2023
Order
The court ordered the parties to meet and confer for at least one hour within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint. The meeting must be a good-faith attempt to settle the action.
The parties were directed to discuss whether Plaintiff had satisfied the threshold requirement of standing, meaning the requirement that a plaintiff be legally entitled to bring the case. The order did not decide whether Thorne had standing; it only required the parties to consider that issue during settlement discussions.
If the parties could not settle on their own, they also had to discuss whether further settlement discussions through the court-annexed mediation program or before a magistrate judge would be productive.
Required Joint Letter
Within 15 additional days—45 days after service of the summons and complaint—the parties must submit a joint letter informing the court whether they settled. If they did not settle, the letter must request either referral to mediation or a settlement conference before a magistrate judge, while indicating a preference between those options, or an initial status conference.
This order addressed case management and settlement procedures. It did not resolve the merits of Thorne’s claims, decide whether the case could proceed as a class action, or rule on standing.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.